Ruling clears SCRAMP in MotoGP road death

The civil lawsuit by a woman whose husband was killed as he left the 2010 MotoGP at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca has ended with her receiving only "nominal" damages.

Judge Kay Kingsley ruled Friday the Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula (SCRAMP) could not be held liable for the traffic plan that led to the death of Keith Howard Kaiser of Saratoga. Kingsley had previously ruled neither Monterey County, the city of Monterey nor the California Highway Patrol could be sued for their role in the traffic plan because they are government agencies.

Andrew Swartz, SCRAMP's attorney, said Kaiser's wife, Jeannine Kaiser, received settlements from the insurance companies of two other drivers involved, though he described them as "nominal" because they had limited insurance policies.

Howard Kaiser, 54, died July 25, 2010, after he was struck by one of two motorcycles that tangled on Reservation Road after leaving the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix motorcycle event at Laguna Seca.

Jeannine Kaiser alleged that motorcyclists leaving via the Watkins Gate Road exit were required to turn east on Reservation Road, leading the majority of the riders heading to the San Francisco Bay Area to make an illegal U-turn on a blind curve about a mile west of Davis Road.

One of those motorcyclists, Timothy Paul Andre, 49, of Los Gatos struck another rider, David Encarnacion Jiminez, 29, of Antioch, who was also eastbound on Reservation. Jiminez's Ducati Monster slid across the roadway into Kaiser's westbound BMW motorcycle, which went airborne, ejecting him. Kaiser died at the scene.

Andre also was ejected from his Yamaha motorcycle but survived. Jiminez suffered minor injuries, but his passenger, a 38-year-old woman from Clayton, was airlifted from the scene with major injuries. Andre and Jiminez were the other named defendants in Jeannine Kaiser's lawsuit.

Swartz said Kingsley's ruling was correct, though devastating for Kaiser's widow, who broke into tears in the courtroom.

"It was a sad, tragic case," he said. "But that doesn't mean you can sue the State of California or the county or SCRAMP because they have money."

The Monterey attorney said the traffic plan was approved by 12 government agencies and was a reasonable effort to keep motorcycles and automobiles, which exited on Monterey-Salinas Highway, on separate roads as they left the event.

While the civil lawsuit has concluded, the criminal case continues against Andre, who is charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter, reckless driving causing injury and making an illegal U-turn.

Numerous trial dates have been continued in the three years since Andre was charged, most recently in September. Chief Assistant District Attorney Terry Spitz said that delay was caused by the defense attorney trying to repair strategic damage after he mistakenly sent a confidential communication intended for a defense expert to the prosecutor.

Spitz said Scotty Storey moved to have the state Attorney General's Office take over the case. He withdrew that motion after the District Attorney's Office agreed to assign a new prosecutor who will be barred from discussing the case with the former prosecutor or her supervisor.

Andre is scheduled to return to court for a pretrial hearing Jan. 15. He faces up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine if convicted.